In a Commons written reply, the Health Minister John Hutton said the so-called "Diana's Angels" would become an everlasting tribute to the princess.

"Following evaluation of the first pioneering teams, it is intended that Diana Community Children's Nursing teams will be extended to provide care to people across the UK," he wrote.

"These teams will become a permanent memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales."

The experience of the early pioneering teams would determine the level of funding in future years.

Special children's nurses were one of the five suggested memorials to Diana and they are being funded by the Department of Health.

They aim to provide children who are likely to die before adulthood with specialist care, along with support for their families.

The announcement dismisses reports in July that the nursing teams could be scrapped because of a political dispute over funding.

Wedding slippers up for sale

Meanwhile, the royal cobbler has decided to auction a pair of shoes identical to those worn by Princess Diana on her wedding day.

Stand-by slippers valued at £1m

Clive Shilton is selling the satin slippers he made as stand-bys for the princess for about £1m.

Mr Shilton, who now owns an exotic plants nursery near Penzance in Cornwall, is hoping to build a huge exotic garden with the proceeds.

He says the thought only occurred to him when his insurers, Lloyds of London, valued the slippers.

Mr Shilton justified his decision to sell the shoes saying that the money he made from them would benefit all who came to visit the new garden.

"For them to lie there and nobody to see them or someone does see them and it does help to create a garden in Cornwall then I think that's a worthwhile thing to do," he told the BBC.